The present invention relates to building structures, and particularly to pre-cut, ready to assemble buildings. More particularly, the present invention relates to buildings having portions thereof prefabricated to reduce waste and facilitate construction.
Conventional building assemblies include a plurality of building members of various shapes and sizes. Assembly of these conventional buildings can be difficult, especially to an individual who is not experienced in assembling a building. Because different building members have shapes and sizes that can be confusingly similar, it can be extremely time consuming to assemble the building according to a predetermined specification. A method for marking the building members so that selected building members to be interconnected can be determined by visual inspection would facilitate assembly of a building.
Coded indicia for use on the building members for indicating the predetermined position of each building member is known. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,963 to Campbell, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
While the use of coded indicia facilitates the positioning of building members in their predetermined locations relative to each other, their use has been limited to indicating that certain building members abut, or are adjacent to, certain other building members. The coded indicia do not eliminate the need for accurate measuring and marking of the building members by the builder to ensure accurate placement. The builder must measure and mark the certain building members to determine the exact location of abutting or adjacent members so that predetermined building members, such as studs and rafters, are properly positioned and aligned. A mechanism that would facilitate the construction of a building by reducing or eliminating the need for measuring and marking positions on various building members would provide an improvement over conventional building assemblies. Such a mechanisms would reduce the likelihood of mistakes, and therefore waste, and reduce the skill level required of the assembler of the building.
According to the present invention, a kit for the assembly of a building structure includes a plurality of precut studs and rafters and precut panels for use as side walls, a floor, and a roof. The kit also includes a prefabricated "magic rail" for properly positioning the studs and rafters relative to one another.
The "magic rail" includes a first member having a plurality of notches for properly locating stud members in parallel spaced-apart relation to one another. A second member is attached to the first member so as to form a ridge for positioning the rafter members relative to the stud members. Thus, when the stud members are properly positioned in the "magic rail", the stud members are properly aligned and the rafters are properly positioned relative to the floor.
According to one aspect of the invention, the second member is positioned at an angle to the first member to provide a hip in the roof structure that partially overhangs at least one of the side walls. According to another aspect of the invention, coded indicia are located on the end portions of the building members for indicating a predetermined location of the building members to facilitate the assembly of the kit. In preferred embodiments of the invention, the coded indicia include color coding indicia.
Additional objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.